26 Nov 2013

Sponsored Video: The Tweeting Bra!

There's a bra that tweets! I'm not even joking. Nestle fitness has created a bra in an effort to raise awareness for breast cancer and increase rates of women checking themselves for signs of the disease by posting reminders to Twitter via a bra!

The bra is being worn by Greek celebrity Maria Bakodimou for two weeks, and each time she unhooks it, it will automatically tweet to @TweetingBra to remind followers to do their monthly self-exam. The rationale is that it's really easy to forget to check your breasts when we all have so much going on (hence why I haven't blogged in ages, turns out doctorates are pretty time consuming, sorry!).

The bra works by detecting when the bra is unhoooked, and then a bluetooth unit in the clasp sends out a signal to a mobile phone which triggers the tweet to be sent. She is currently wearing the bra and the bra seems to be actually quite funny

The serious message is that breast cancer is the most common type in the UK and around 55,000 people are diagnosed each year including men (which is why those women only facebook status messages that go around irritate me, it's not just women!). Survival rates are increasing year upon year, but early detection is the most important aspect and increases our chances of overcoming it.

Although not part of this campaign, I thought I'd put in some information on how to correctly examine your boobs from NHS Choices:

Look at your breasts and feel each breast and armpit. You may find it easiest to do this in the shower or bath, by running a soapy hand over each breast and up under each armpit. You can look at your breasts in the mirror. Moving your arms around will allow you to see your breasts from every angle.

See your GP if you notice any of the following changes:

a change in the size, outline or shape of your breast, especially when you move your arm or lift your breast

a change in the look or feel of your skin, such as puckering or dimpling

any discomfort or pain in one breast, particularly if it’s a new pain and doesn’t go away

a new lump, thickening or bumpy area in one breast or armpit that is different from the same area on the other side

nipple discharge that's not milky

bleeding from your nipple

a moist, red area on your nipple that doesn’t heal easily

any change in nipple position, such as your nipple being pulled in or pointing differently